Paramount Jack Conrad Band Bus

Extra information

From film prop to tour bus
 
In 1934, film director Alfred L. Werker recorded the musical-like play “Stolen Harmony” on film and showed it for the first time in cinemas in December 1934.

The story in “Stolen Harmony” was based on a Big Band whose leader was Jack Conrad. In a prison, he heard the inmate named Ray Ferrare playing a saxophone and was very impressed. As soon as Ray Ferrarea was allowed to leave the prison, Jack Conrad hired him for his band. Striking for the Big Band was that Jack Conrad drove in a bus that did not fit into the usual idea of a bus at the time. The movie bus was an eye-catcher wherever it appeared. So that it was immediately associated with the Big Band, the name “Jack Conrad Band” was fixed in large letters on both sides on the upper half of the roof. However, the roof did not have a conventional shape, but ended in a powerful caudal fin far above. But not only the rear was an eye-catcher, also the front deviated from the usual. The driver did not sit on the level of the 36 passengers, but steered the bus high up in a so called “crow’s nest’. In “Stolen Harmony” the bus was described as luxurious, which certainly corresponded to the taste of the time. The aerodynamically designed bus, based on the findings of the aircraft industry, was used after the film shoot as a vehicle for the tour booking at ‘Paramount Pictures’. How long it drove tourists through the artificial film city has been forgotten over the decades, as well as more details about the specifications of the bus. Neither the basis of the bus, nor the engine manufacturer nor the company that took over the conversion of the three-axle bus have survived. Apparently, the only certainty is that he fell victim to the scrap press over the years.